Sledding system and apparatus

ABSTRACT

Herein described are inflatable guide tubes for keeping participants within a sledding or tubing track. The tubes are inflated with blower that supplies enough air and pressure to keep the tubes inflated at the optimum pressure while overcoming air loss from the seams. The inflatable tubes provide a resilient bumper surface that deflects the participants towards the center of the track, should they come into contact with the guide tube. The guide tube is sewn out of a fabric such that it forms an enclosed volume. The shape of the tube is generally cylindrical, but is compliant enough to follow undulating terrain. The tube has an opening that can be secured to the output path of a high pressure air blower. When the blower is turned on, air fills the tube to such a pressure that it provides a durable and resilient bouncy surface.

PRIORITY OF APPLICATIONS

This Continuation in Part application claims priority from pendingpatent application Ser. No. 14/255,870 filed on Apr. 17, 2014 titledSLEDDING SYSTEM AND APPARATUS.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This device was invented for use with summer tubing operations at skiareas. It was discovered that summer tubing operations are not easy toconstruct or maintain. It is also very difficult to design a summertubing system that can be quickly set up in the spring and disassembledin the fall, allowing a ski area to place their summer tubing operationsin an area of the resort most conducive to visitor enjoyment. One of thebiggest challenges of summer tubing lanes is keeping the participantswithin the intended direction of travel. The track is generally coveredwith a slippery surface, while the surrounding grass or ground is notslippery. The invention allows participants to have freedom of motionside to side while travelling down the mountain as well as rotationalfreedom. It also gently deflects and redirects their direction of travelwithout abrupt bumps, ejections, or jumps. Softer and safer makes theentire system more enjoyable for guests and their kids, which is thename of the game in the ski area business.

Ski areas are always looking for cost-effective ways to make use oftheir controlled assets to bring in revenue during the summer months.Many ski areas have winter tubing operations and already own speciallifts, inner tubes, and have staff trained to operate. Ski areas don'tlike laying off employees that they trained because they may not returnthe following ski season. A summer tubing operation allows the ski areato retain these employees and employ them in a way that is very similarto their winter occupation.

Since the invention is modular and portable, it could be used as ademonstration or rental tubing or sledding track. Said portable trackcould be used at fairs, parks, or for summer events at ski areas. Theinvention could be used at amusement parks, recreational parks, or evenfor private properties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The Neveplast Pantigliate installation uses artificial ski matting for atubing hill. The operation has numerous lanes separated by plastictubes. This is an elevated, stand-alone attraction and was designed tobe such. The tubes are rigid in nature and do not contain a blowersystem to fill with fluid such as air. The tubes are smaller in diameterthan the cross section of the inner tubes that the participants areusing. This installation contains a conveyor lift to get participants tothe top of the structure. The guide tubes are permanently attached andare not sold separately and as such are not designed for use onground-based summer tubing tracks on hills.

Ski Trax artificial ski matting demonstrated the use of their artificialski matting for summer tubing operations on YouTube. They set up asingle lane on a grassy slope and made use of traffic-style curbs asrigid bumpers. These bumpers do not connect to each other, the track,and do not collapse for efficient storage. They are also relativelyheavy.

Tubby Tubes is a summer tubing operation in the United States. They havenumerous individual lanes of summer tubing with bumpers to keepparticipants within the intended lanes of travel. These rigid bumpersare made of wood and are upholstered with a carpet-style product.

Neveplast is a ski matting company that makes a modular tubing productcalled Neveplast Tubby. They have proven commercial success throughhundreds of installations around the world. Their product involvessections of premade track that contain triangular bumpers. The flattrack section and angled bumper sections contain the Neveplast skimatting. Track sections overlay each other as they go down the hill suchthat the uphill section overlaps the downhill section. During setup, yousimply lay the downhill-most section first and then overlap the nextuphill section. After you place the next section, you attach it to theprevious section with screws. These sections are modular, premade, andhandleable by one or two people, can be stored easily in the winter, andare the primary competitor in this field. The bumpers are permanentlyattached to the track and contain ski matting that can scuff hands andfeet at the participant travels down the track. Neveplast also makescorner sections that have elevated, banked, concave guide walls foraggressive corners. These guide walls allow for complete redirection andguiding of the participant along the intended path of travel.

The inflatable car bumper patent describes a car bumper that is filledwith air. It proves the concept of resilient bumping action with nodamage to the rigid structures behind the bumper. The bumper is attachedto a moving vehicle, and as such when deployed prior to a collision witha non-movable rigid object offers and attenuation of kinetic energy justprior to forceful contact between moving and non-moving rigid structuresthereby minimizing damage to structures. Additionally, the resilientbumping action can redirect the kinetic energy and bounce the car off arigid structure in an intended safer direction clear of rigidnon-movable structures, thereby minimizing overall damage.

Ungxtreme summer tubing owns a patent on a summer slippery ski surface.They make use of their product in the United States for summer tubingoperations. They also manufacture rigid, but long guide bumpers. Thesebumpers are triangular in section and contain a deflection wall that issteeper than 45 degrees which deflects tubers within the intended pathof travel. The triangular rigid guide wall flexes gently to meet thecontour of the undulating terrain beneath the track. These guide wallsare nailed down to earth or other substrate and do not provide aconnection point to the slippery matting.

The patent application entitled Escape Slide for Aircraft describes aninflatable slide that can also be used as a raft during a wateremergency landing. The slide contains inflatable bumpers that areconnected to the slide, which is inflated with air.

These bumpers keep evacuates within the intended direction of travel.This slide is lightweight, conforms to a small volume for quick storage,and can be quickly deployed, which makes it ideal for stowing on anaircraft for use only with emergency operations. This slide is notintended for recreational use. The guard walls are filled at multiplepoints and cannot be removed from the slide.

The patent application entitled Toboggan and Snow Tubing Slide describesa tubing track with artificial ski matting with an integrated fluidmisting system that allows for decreasing the coefficient of friction.The track contains slippery banked side walls that keep tubers withinthe track. The banked side walls are supported by and internal structuredescribed as flexible tubes of different diameter which are filed withair or water. These tubes are internal to the track, do not directlycome into contact with the inner tubes, and are simply a means tomechanically elevate and support a traditional flat banked guide wall.

The Snowzilla Mobile Toboggan Lane, which can be found through a Googlesearch, is an inflatable structure that participants can climbapproximately 25 feet to the top of and sled down a slippery track,which has inflated side walls. These side walls are permanently attachedand integrated to the elevated sub structure such that they share onecommon blended volume of air through numerous openings between the wallsand the structure. These guide walls are vertical with internal bafflesthat allow for a non-circular cross section. The guide walls act as theactual bumper surface and contain no artificial ski matting that wouldcause scuffs and burns to participants. These guide walls are intendedfor use with a large, inflatable structure and as such could notfeasibly be used for a ground-based tubing lane that is laid out on anaturally-occurring slope. The guide walls have at least twocompartments, stacked vertically, that allow the wall to be taller thana single cavity. This taller nature of the wall allows the wall to actas a guard from participants falling out of the elevated structure.These guide walls are attached by two or more sections of fabric thatare in tension because they are part of the outer surface that containsthe high pressure air. This tubing track is sold as a singular largeunit to be premade and shipped to a flat location for use on levelground. This is a large and heavy unit that can only be moved with manypeople or with the help of a powered machine. These guide walls areelevated and never touch the ground.

Yang, patent application publication number 2009/0101040 discloses aguide tube 6 which is fixed tube 6; in which a tube car travels through.As stated in paragraph 62 of Yang, “ . . . rail 44 for guiding a guidefor rail-changing 52 of a car is laid on the upper part of the innerwall 43. The car 31 depends on its self-motility and a driving brake 36to run on the rails, thus ensuring its uniform acceleration andstability.”

Marcu, U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,368 discloses in the Detailed Descriptionfirst paragraph, last sentence, “ . . . As it is seen, the system has ablower or the like 2 placed immediately after the area where thecontainers are introduced, simply pushing, injecting air 10 into thesaid continuous open ended tubular structure or pipeline 7 having oneopen end free 8 and at the other end 11 being the said forcedintroduction device 5 for pushing containers inside of the continuouspipeline.”

Most of the commercially-successful summers tubing operations containbanked side walls that have artificial ski matting. These walls workgreat to deflect the participant down the direction of intended travel.The ski matting or carpet on the side walls can cause harmful contact,should a participants arm or other bare skin come into high speedshearing communication with the material.

Hard bumper surfaces generally cause quick or abrupt changes indirection and can cause undue whiplash action to the participant. Theserigid structures have very little compliance and do not offer muchkinetic energy absorption upon impact or contact with the travelingparticipant. Additionally, these banked walls can act as a jump: if aparticipant gets enough speed at the correct angle across the fall line,they could get ejected out of the tube or could become airborne, landingback in the track, on the bumper wall, or worse, outside the track. Ingeneral, banked guard walls help to minimize rug burns because they getthe contact point between the tube and the wall (pinch point) fartheraway from the participant, but at the consequence of deflecting the tubeupward when collisions occur.

Hard guide walls in general are slow to set up and must be carefullyaligned so as to not create ledges that could cause harmful contact to abody in motion. Where setup time is critical, hard guide walls are notconducive to portable summer tubing operations.

Should a person wipe out or crash and tumble during the tubing run,rigid guard walls, especially with corners of small radius, can causeinjury. Most rigid guard walls have small radius corners that aredesirable from a structural standpoint, but at the consequence of beingmore dangerous from a participant safety standpoint.

Ski areas traditionally have a hard time retaining employees from seasonto season. They usually employ people seasonally where they hire in thefall and lay off in the spring. If they find really good employees, theyhate to lose them in the spring, but if there is no work to do, theymust lay off. The guide tube concept for summer bumper tubing is acost-effective way for ski areas to use some of their already ownedequipment (lifts, tubes) to keep these employees on year-round. Employeeretention can be improved, which in general helps keep the overall costsof a ski area lower.

Rigid guard walls have numerous structural components of mass and assuch are expensive and time consuming to build. Furthermore, becausethey are rigid and flat and sloped to get the pinch point out of the wayof the participants' hands, they also have to be of lower coefficient offriction because a bumping contact would cause undue spinning action.This need to lower the friction usually results in the installation of acarpet or ski matting, which then in turn adds back in the possibilityof rug burns to participants. Should the walls be built vertically, theywould likely not need be of as low a coefficient of friction, butcareful design and construction would be necessary to ensure that nowharmful ridges are present. This give and take between designs alwayscauses more expensive solutions to the problem that is simply solved byan inflatable guard bumper of proper design.

In general, any feature of a participant sport that is viewed asdangerous or not fun would cause the participant to be less likely topay for the use of the equipment. If the harmful features are removed orminimized, the participant is more likely to have an enjoyable time andas such is more likely to return to the venue and pay money for the useof the equipment. Harsh guard walls are not as commercially-viable assoft, fun ones.

There is a need for the following:

As inflated guard tubes for a summer tubing operation at a ski area

Could be used as portable tubing or sledding track because they are verylightweight and easy to transport and setup

May be used with straight, cornering, or hilly sections of track

Could be used in the winter as well for the same purpose

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the present invention is a sledding system, comprising: aguide tube; a blower to displace air into said guide tube; a trackdisposed between two guide tubes; wherein a riding tube may slide downsaid track.

Another aspect is a sledding system, comprising: a guide tube; a blower;two guide tubes disposed leftwardly and rightwardly of a track; astarting deck disposed upwardly from said track; said bloweroperationally disposed through at least one of either a starting deckhole or a track hole to displace air into one or more guide tubes.

Another aspect of the present invention is a sledding system andapparatus, comprising: a guide tube; a blower; two guide tubes disposedleftwardly and rightwardly of a track; a starting deck disposed upwardlyfrom said track; said blower operationally disposed through at least oneof either a starting deck hole or a track hole to displace air into oneor more guide tubes.

Another aspect of the present invention is a sledding system andapparatus (10), comprising: a guide tube; a track disposed immediatelyadjacent to said guide tube.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3-A illustrates a front view of an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3-B illustrates a partial side view of an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3-C illustrates a front or rear view of a guide tube and connectionmeans of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a front or rear view of a guide tube and connectionmeans of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a top view of two track portions of an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a front view showing the track with guide tubes andan riding tube on a track on the left;

FIG. 7A illustrates one embodiment of guide tube on a track 40;

FIG. 7B illustrates another embodiment of two guide tubes placedimmediately adjacent to each guide tube; and

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   10 present invention-   20 starting deck-   30 guide tube-   40 track-   50 riding tube-   60 handle-   70 blower-   80 piping-   90 plug-   100 connection means-   110 attachment flap-   120 center tube-   130 artificial snow surface-   140 fill cap with snorkel-   150 fill snorkel-   160 starting deck aperture-   170 fill cap connection means-   180 support means-   190 slowing mat-   200 fill cap-   210 fluid or air filled end OR uphill end-   220 downhill overlap-   230 riding tube seam-   240 downhill end-   250 annular rings-   260 track hole-   270 starting deck hole-   280 snorkel strap-   290 drain hole-   300 double removable bumper configuration-   310 piping system-   320 slow down device-   330 shell-   340 needle punctures-   350 ground or earth surface

FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the present invention 10, andillustrates a riding tube 50 disposed on a starting deck 20. Thestarting deck 20 is oriented substantially horizontally. A handle 60 issecured to the starting deck 20 near the track 40. The handle 60 may bea pole shaped member that extends upwardly from the starting deck 20 sothat the user can use the handle 60 to pull or push themselves at adesired speed and direction down the track 40. A guide tube 30 may bedisposed leftwardly and rightwardly of the track 40. The guide tube 30may have a fluid filled end 210, which may also be referred to as anuphill end 210. The fluid may be air, gas, or liquid. The guide tube 30may have a downhill end 240 downstream from the uphill end 210. A blower70 may operationally connected to piping 80 to pump fluid, such as a gasor liquid into the guide tube 30. In one embodiment the gas is air. Ablower 70 can me any device or being that can cause or direct fluiddisplacement.

FIG. 2 is a top view of an embodiment of the present invention 10, andillustrates the guide tubes 30 disposed so as to create and separate thetracks 40 or lanes 40. The starting deck 20 may be disposed at thehighest elevation of the system or present invention 10. A riding tube50 is illustrated above the leftwardly lane on the starting deck 20, anda riding tube 50 is illustrated on a track 40 in the rightwardly lane.The blower 70 is disposed leftwardly of the guide tubes 30 andoperationally connected to all guide tubes 30 via a piping system 310.The blower 70 is illustrated as being connected to the piping 80 todisplace fluid; such are air in to the guide tubes 30. The handles 60may be disposed on the starting deck 20 near the top of the track 40.

FIG. 3-A illustrates a track 40 bounded by a guide tube 30 disposedleftwardly and rightwardly of the track.

FIG. 3-B illustrates a guide tube 30 with annular rings 250 disposednear the uphill end 210, and a fill cap 200 disposed at the lowest, mostdownstream guide tube 30 downhill end 240. Any guide tube 30 disposedbetween the highest or most upstream guide tube 30, and the lowest, mostdownstream guide tube 30 would not have a fill cap 200, so the air couldflow and occupy the volume of all guide tubes 30 that are operationallyconnected to a blower 70.

FIG. 3-C illustrates a guide tube 30 having a connection means 100extending from the guide tube 30 so that it may connect with a track 40.In one embodiment the connection means 100 may be an attachment flap110.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a guide tube 30 that, when disposedbetween two tracks 40, is a center tube 120. A center tube 120 may havetwo connection means 100, one extending leftwardly, the otherrightwardly so each connection means 100 may connect to a track 40.

FIG. 5 illustrates a track 40 disposed in part over a lower track 40.For example in FIG. 5, the track 40 on the right is disposed above andrightwardly of the track 40 on the left. The downhill overlap 220 isalso illustrated.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention 10 with asubstantially horizontally oriented starting deck 20 connected to atrack 40. The track 40 may have a track hole 260 so that the blower 70may be connected to the fill snorkel 150, and the fill snorkel 150 isconnected to the fill cap with snorkel 140 to allow air to flow to theguide tube 30.

The track 40 may have one guide tube 30 separating a track 40 from oneor two connected guide tubes 30. When two guide tubes 30 are immediatelyadjacent or connected, this may be referred to as a double removablebumper configuration 300.

In one embodiment, the track 40 may be about forty two (42) inches orgreater in width, with two 6 inch to 9 inch diameter circular tubesreferred to as guide tubes 30 on the left and right sides of the track40.

The attached guide tubes 30 may attach to the track with staples, hookand loop connections, or other any other attachment means 100.

In another embodiment may have guide tubes 30 that may be circular guidetubes 30 having a diameter of about 14-16 inches.

One embodiment may have a starting deck 20 with pull handles 60 for eachlane 40 or track 40.

In one embodiment the starting deck 20 may be raised above ground levelby disposing the starting deck on a support means 180. The support means180 may be a structure such as a set of legs, 2×4s extended lengthwise,or blocks may be used raise the track 40 off of the ground, or a rampshaped structure 180.

Having a raised starting 20 may offer an increased ability to pipe airto one or more tracks 40 or guide tubes 30, and the ability to hide theblower 70 under the starting deck 20.

A raised starting deck 20 also offers a slight increase in slope of thetrack, giving participants a burst of speed at the top.

There could be numerous lanes 40 or tracks 40, side by side. Blower 70may be positioned under the starting deck or away from the track 40 suchthat participants cannot hear the blower 70 when it is on.

The blower 70 may be sized per the number of guide tubes 30. In oneembodiment the blower 70 may have up to 2 hp could be 120 VAC commonvoltage blower 70. If an area has higher voltages available, operationalcosts may go down by choosing larger singular blower to inflate allguide tubes.

All tubes may be inflated from the top and plugged at bottom, so end ofthe guide tube 30 contains no hardware.

Anything hard, like piping to get air into guide tube 30 is mountedsub-flush with the ground surface so that there is nothing hard tocollide with.

Slowing area at bottom either involves long run out of artificial snowsurface 130 or slowing mats 190 that have higher coefficient of frictionthan manufactured snow.

The track 40 may have manufactured snow disposed thereon, or a similarsummer surface for the sliding track 40 or track 40.

The Guide tubes 40 may be sized correctly and inflated correctly suchthat a gentle bump from a participant will deflect passenger back intotrack 40, if their collision with the guide tube 40 is fast enough, theguide tube 40 will deflect enough to allow them to escape from the lanewithout ejecting from the riding tube 40 or substantially jumping upinto the air.

In one embodiment, long guide tubes 40 may span many modular sections oftrack 40.

In one embodiment, the guide tubes 40 may be comprised of closed surfaceof flexible fabric able to be filled with air, making a rigid, butcompliant structure that follows the unevenness of ski runs.

The guide tubes 40 may have a uniform cross section allows for modularconnectivity and which may receive fill cap 200 at the downhill end, ordownstream from the air fill end 210.

Each guide tube 30 may be open at each end that allow for simpleconnection and air transfer between sections of guide tube 30.

The guide tubes 30 may be attached to the track 40 via a connectionmeans 100. In one embodiment the connection means may be a staple, inanother embodiment, it may be a hook and loop connectors, such asVelcro® disposed on an attachment flap 110 that may extend from theguide tube 30.

The connection means 100 may allow for simple tear down, which isimportant to a ski area that is trying to make use of a ski run fortubing in the summer, but still be able to groom out the snow for skiingin the winter

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the track 40 may have Downhill overlappingpoint creates no catch points in the fabric structure. In other words,the track 40 may overlay the top of another track 40 so that theparticipant slides down one track 40 and the next track 40 downstream isbelow the upper track 40 so the participant or riding tube does not makecontact with the edge of the lower track 40.

The diameter of the guide tube 30 can be smaller, about the same size,or larger than typical commercial sledding inner tubes that cause theguide tube 30 to act as a bumper to deflect in, get tight, and keep theriding 50 tube in the track 40 because it forces in inward and possiblydownward where sloped guard walls will deflect upward and possiblyoutward, depending on the impact velocity vector.

The guide tubes 30 with the smaller diameters reduce minimize or caneliminate the contact point with the riding tube 50 seam 230. The ridingtube seam 230 may be located at mid-plane between the top and bottom ofthe riding tube 50. The elimination of the contact point between theriding tube 50 and guide tube 30 reduces wear and damage caused to theguide tubes 30.

No ski matting is necessary because abrasion resistant fabric issomewhat slippery, compliant and durable, which is also cheaper andsimpler. The guide tubes 30 may be comprised of, or have exposed to theparticipant such abrasion resistant fabric. One suitable abrasionresistant fabric is UV-resistant 18-oz PVC coated polyester. This can bepurchased at http://www.topvaluefabrics.com/18oz-VCP.html.

Length of the attachment flap 110 causes guide tube 30 to be in contactwith the ground and the track 40, thereby limiting unnecessary motion.Tightness of the guide tube 39 is adjustable based on where you connectthe guide tube 30 to the attachment flap 110. For example a shorterinstallation point means the guide tubes 30 will be tighter.

In one embodiment, an advantage of the invention 10 is that rather thanhave a ski matting to reduce the friction during a bumping event, thefabric walls have enough friction to induce a spinning force during abump. This will make the trip down the lane even more exciting than atrip down a lane with reduced friction walls.

Alternatively too much spin can be discomforting at the end of a tubingrun. So the bumping event can be exciting and the bumping event maycause some spin.

In one embodiment the guide tubes 30 may be a singular compartment,closed, tubular structure.

Separate guide tubes can individually be inflated.

The connection means 100 may be a singular, non-air filled connectionpoint of the guide tube 30 to the track 40.

The walls or exterior surface of the guide tubes 30 have no carpet orartificial ski matting.

The guide tubes 30 modular sections that can easily rolled up and movedby one or two people.

The guide tubes 30 can touch the ground.

In one embodiment, a guide tube 30 that is substantially parallel to theground may have a convex wall, if, for example the guide tube has acircular shaped cross section, which may deflects the tube back into thetrack.

Tubular shape of the guide tube 30 may have a larger diameter than theriding tubes 50 thereby causing a downward component of the deflectionforce.

The guide tubes 30 may have a resilient, bouncy impact surface.

In one embodiment the attachment flap may be between about 0.3 and 3inches long with tube being between 6 and 24 inches in diameter.

The guide tubes 30 are removably attached to the track 40 via aconnection means 100.

In one embodiment the guide tubes 30 may be easily brandable by sewingVelcro onto tube such that printed banner can be attached and detachedeasily. In another embodiment indicia may be printed directly onto vinylbumper surface prior to sewing or manufacturing.

In one embodiment the connection means 100 may be an attachment flap 110that contacts the track 40 underneath, causing Velcro connection to beloaded only in shear.

In one embodiment the guide tube can be made from one 61″ wide width offabric. Thus the total circumference of the guide tube 30 plus one ortwo attachment flaps length doesn't equal more than 61″ wide.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, in one embodiment there may be a guide tube 30with two connection means 100, such as attachment flaps 110 can be usedsuch that two tracks 40 share the same guide tube 40 as one guide wall.

FIG. 7B illustrates one embodiment that may have a double removablebumper configuration 30. This configuration may allow tube to beinstalled directly over artificial ski surface so that a multiple-tubinglane array can be converted into an open ski slope for skiing or tubing.

In one embodiment, the guide tubes 30 may be sewn out of fabric and aredesigned to use the full width of a 61 inch wide roll of fabric, therebyeliminating waste and decreasing production time. The guide tubes 30 maybe approximately 100 feet in length, which causes the overall weight tobe around 75 pounds. The guide tube 30 can then be easily rolled up andmoved around for setup, tear down, or storage. The guide tube 30 isgenerally the same in cross sectional size and shape from top to bottom,as the participant descends down the track 40. This makes for easyfabrication while also minimizing protrusions or catching points forparticipants.

The accompanying track 40 may have a hook and loop connection, such asVelcro® permanently-installed. This can be installed with staples oradhesive. For more durable applications, a strip of vinyl can first besewn to the Velcro prior to the secondary attachment method. Also,certain versions of Velcro are available in forms that are stiffer andmore durable and are specifically-designed to be installed to rigidsurfaces.

Each guide tube 30 has the same general ends, and air fill end 210, alsocalled an uphill end 210 and a downhill end 240. The uphill end 210 mayhave two annular rings 250 of 2 inch loop and hook connectors, such asVelcro sewn on the outside.

The Downhill end 240 may have two annular rings 250 of hook and loopconnectors, such as Velcro sewn on the inside. This system of annularrings 250 allows the one guide tube 30 to slide into an adjacent guidetube 30 until the annular rings 250 of hook and loop connections matchand can be installed upon one another.

Thus the highest uphill end of the complete tube assembly (composed oftwo or more guide tubes 30 connected) may be left with the externalrings of hook and loop connections.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, these annular rings 250 provide a convenientmethod for attaching to the fill cap 200. The fill cap 200 may be a veryshort piece of guide tube 30 that has a cylindrical snorkel 150connected in at a 90 degree angle to the guide tube portion 30.

The snorkel 150 may be approximately 6 inches in diameter and a coupleof feet long. The snorkel 150 can be inserted into a track hole 260and/or a starting deck hole 270 that takes the fill point to below thestarting deck 20. This snorkel 150 allows for a simplistic layout of theblower piping 80, while also getting all hard objects below the startingdeck 20. The blower piping 80 is inserted into the snorkel 150, and thenthe snorkel 150 is cinched around the blower piping 80. A snorkel strap280 is secured around the cinched section of the tube thereby clampingthe tube to the, blower 70 or blower piping 80.

The downhill end 240 of the complete assembly of guide tubes 30 is leftwith the internal rings of the hook and loop connections. These internalrings provide a convenient attachment point for a fill cap 200, whichmay be a custom capped length of guide tubing 200. The fill cap 200 maybe a plug that may be a sewn fabric that is a cylinder with an end capsewn in.

Around the fill cap 200 may be two external bands of hook and loopconnections, such as Velcro® (similar to the uphill end of the tube).The fill cap 200 or plug 200 is simply inserted into the downhill end ofthe tube until the annular rings 250. The hook and loop connections maybe pressed together and the fill cap 200 or plug 200 is held in placesuch that the air inside the guide tube cannot openly discharge toatmosphere.

For one piece of track 40, there is one guide tube 30 disposedleftwardly, and a second guide tube 30 disposed rightwardly of the track40.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, for the configuration of two tracks 40 theremay be a guide tube 30 having a connection means 100 on each side.

Whether a guide tube 30 is used for the far left or far right end of anarray of tubing lanes determines where the connection means 100 isdisposed or is sewn. This location may be critical to the guide tube 30being able to be installed with the uphill and downhill ends of theguide tubes 30 in the appropriate locations.

A guide tube 30 could be made to be ambidextrous if hook and loopconnections or Velcro is sewn on the top and the bottom sides of theattachment flap 110, should this situation ever become desirable.

Finally, a center guide tube 30 would have two attachment flaps sewn insuch that two adjacent parallel tubing tracks 40 could share one commonguide tube 30. This configuration is desirable for multiple lanesbecause the overall cost to have inflatable guide tubes 30 may be lowerper lane than a single track 40.

The guide tubes 30 will act as a spacing and holding mechanism for thelinear pattern of track 40, which may be panels that are arranged goingdown the hill. This is very important because the guide tubes 30themselves can provide a sufficient holding force to keep the track 40panels in alignment, both across the fall line and down the fall line.

The blower 70 necessary for this inflatable guide tube 30 is the same asthe blowers 70 commonly used for inflatable structures. They typicallyhave between 150 and 1000 cubic feet per minute of air flow at apressure of between 1 and 15 inches of water column pressure. Theseblowers 70 are designed to move a large volume air while also having asufficient amount of static head pressure to affect a stiff andresilient inflated structure.

Due to the outdoor storage of the guide tubes 30 in the summer monthsthe addition of rain drain holes 290 are included on one embodiment ofthe present invention 10.

Drain holes 20 of approximately ½ inch in diameter may be punched intothe hook and loop connections, such as the Velcro flap at approximately10 foot spacings.

The drain holes 290 are located immediately adjacent to the Velcro inthe direction towards the tube. These drain holes 290 could be made inmany different ways including, but not limited to slots or penetrationsof different dimension or pattern.

Storage at night and when the guide tubes 30 are not in use will involvetying down the guide tubes 30. Additional tie down flaps may be added atnumerous locations on the side of the guide tube 30 away from the track40. These tie down flaps are made with a loop of nylon webbing or otherflap of fabric with a hole or grommet. Users hook this flap with abungee cord or similar device and hook to the matching flap on theadjacent tube. The guide tubes 30 will then be lying flat and completelyon the track 40, allowing for mowing and resilient to blowing around orflapping in the wind.

In one embodiment, the current design makes use of 18oz vinyl material.This material is very durable: if is highly scratch resistant andabrasion resistant. It is also highly UV resistant while also be moldand mildew resistant. These combinations of durability provide a fabricthat is suitable for being outdoors in the elements for many yearswithout significant wear. This material is also highly stretchresistant. In order to maintain its shape, the material has to have verylow stretch under high tension. It is noted that many types of materialswould work for this application.

The hook and loop connections and thread are also designed for outdooruse. It is highly UV resistant as well as mold and mildew resistant.

If any adhesives should be necessary for installing hook and loopconnections, such as Velcro, patching holes, or during final designedconstruction, it will be of the permanent, welding type of vinyladhesive.

A clear version of reinforced vinyl could feasibly be used for anighttime tubing operation. If the operator were to install a row oflights, similar to rope lighting, through the guide tube 30, the guidetube 30 could be lit up at night. This could be highly desirable for avenue that wants to maximize hours of operation and profits. The lightscould be bright or dim and could vary in color and intensity. The wholeidea of lights would add a significant selling point to the overallproposition of running a summer tubing operation.

Each section of guide tube 30, being about 100 feet long, weighsapproximately 75 pounds. When rolled up, this weight can be managed byone person during transport and storage.

Each section of guide tube 30 contains approximately 200 cubic feet ofvolume when inflated. After deflating and folding or rolling, the totalvolume is decreased significantly to about 4.5 cubic feet. Thisreduction in volume makes the invention highly portable and easy andcheap to ship and store.

In one embodiment the overall shape of the guide tube 30 is tubular. Thecross section is circular, but could be rectangular, square, triangular,or otherwise. The guide tube 30 conforms to the track undulations,whether they are up and down or left and right. If pronounced bankedcorners or rolling hills be desired, the inflatable guide tube may sweepfrom a circular section to an elevated and enlarged section therebyraising up the track 40 and proving the desired banked corner. Therolling hills and corners could contain not only the inflated guidetubes 30, but also the supporting mechanism for the track 40.

In one embodiment, during use, the blower 70 must be running and theguide tubes 30 fully inflated to the appropriate pressure. The entireguide tube 30 or assembly of guide tubes 30 is enclosed such that theonly air escaping from the internal pressurized cavity is minimized tojust the needle punctures 340 from the sewing operation or at the loopand hook connections.

The hook and loop for Velcro attachment flap 110 is fully engaged theentire length of the track 40. For the invention 10 to work properly andthe present invention 10 to be safe, the entire length of the attachmentflap 110 is fully attached to the underside of the track 40. Since theattachment flap 110 is installed around the bottom corner of the track40, the hook and loop connections or Velcro is always being loaded inshear, which is the strongest and preferred use of this removableconnection method.

The uphill guide tube 30 refers to the configuration when there are atleast two connected guide tubes 30, and the uphill guide tube 30 isdisposed upwardly with respect to other guide tubes 30 and is thehighest positioned guide tube 30.

The uphill guide tube 30 overlaps downhill tube with two or more annularrings 250 of Velcro, sewn to both tubes such that they match up and holdthe sections together with great strength. If one were to pull on thebottom most tube section (or impact the tube during sliding activities),the hook and loop connections or Velcro is being pulled upon with ashear force, the preferred loading of hook and loop connections orVelcro.

The blower 70 supplies air to the piping system 310, which may comprisethe fill snorkel 150, fill cap connection means 170, fill cap withsnorkel 140, and which could contain numerous elbows and tees to splitthe flow to provide air to more than one or more inflatable guide tube30. The piping system 310 supplies air to the fill snorkel 150 of thefill cap 200, which supplies air to the start of the first section ofguide tube 30. Every uphill guide tube 30 supplies air to its adjacentdownhill guide tube 30. Finally, the fill cap 200 also called the endplug 200 stops air from leaving a guide tube 30, typically the mostdownhill guide tube 30. Throughout the entire inflatable assembly, someair may escape at certain areas such as the needle puncture 340 pointsfrom the sewing process.

One skilled in the art of the applicant's invention should understandthe definition of “sewing process.” One definition of sewing processfrom the link,http://www.teonline.com/knowledge-centre/sewing-process.html: is “Thebasic process of sewing involves fastening of fabrics, leather, furs orsimilar other flexible materials with the help of needle and threads.Sewing is mainly used to manufacture clothing and home furnishings. Infact, sewing is one of the important processes in apparel making. Mostof such industrial sewing is done by industrial sewing machines. The cutpieces of a garment are generally tacked, or temporarily stitched at theinitial stage. The complex parts of the machine then pierces threadthrough the layers of the cloth and interlocks the thread.”

When a riding tube 50 bumps the wall of a guide tube 30 at a normalvelocity, the wall deflects, takes some energy out of the tube, convertsit into some rotational energy, and deflects the riding tube 50 andpassenger back into the track 40.

When a passenger and riding tube 50 bumps the guide tube 30 at a high,or escape velocity, the guide tube will likely deflect underneath theriding tube 30 and allows the passenger to escape the track 40 withoutbeing ejected from the riding tube 50 or launching into the air. Thistype of event also slows the riding tube 50 down prior to escape becauseit takes energy to deflect the guide tube 30 as the participant slidesover the riding tube 50. They could slide for a long time down theriding tube 50 until finally stopping, which is more desirable thanjumping or crashing.

The circular cross section of the inflatable guide tube 30 may have alarger diameter than the riding tube 50 that are being used for tubingactivities. In one embodiment the diameter of the guide tube 30 may beapproximately 15.25 inches. In another embodiment the circular crosssection of the riding tube 50 may be about 7 inches.

Additionally, the mid plane of the guide tube 30 may be above the midplane of the riding tube 50. The mid plane is parallel to the tracksection and is coincident with the central axis of the cylinder.

Variations in the design include a guide tube 30 that is smaller indiameter than the riding tube 30 with a mid-plane that is below the midplane of the riding tube 50. This variation in geometry, when combinedwith a higher inflation pressure is better suited for high speed tubingruns. The higher pressure keeps the riding tube 50 in the track 40better while the smaller diameter increases the chance of aparticipant's foot getting jammed into the riding tube 50 during a run.

The attachment flap 110 is approximately 1.5 inches long between theedge of the track 40 and the connection point to the guide tube 30. Thisdistance is critical in that if it is too long, the guide tube 30 canmove left and right in the wind. If the distance is too short, duringinflation, the guide tube will tend to unnecessarily pull itself fromthe track 40 because it is in collision with the ground and the skimatting on the track 40.

A hook and loop connection or Velcro or air tight connection points arenecessary to keep air from escaping at a rate that exceeds what theblower 70 can supply. Currently, two rings of 2 inch Velcro are enough,but should a tighter system be desired, and thereby needing a blower ofsmaller capacity, measures could be taken to seal up the needle puncture340 holes and the Velcro connection points. Measures could be, but arenot limited to adhering a piece of fabric to form a sealed joint,additional rings of hook and loop connections such as Velcro, one ormore attachment flaps 110 that create a more enclosed and complex pathwith more resistance to escaping air, sealed zippers, or magnets.

A fill cap 200 with a fill snorkel 150 is the preferred way to inflatethe guide tube 30. The fill cap 200 is designed such that it attaches tothe uphill end of the track 40 and has a tubular protrusion at anadvantageous angle to the guide tube 30. This guide tube 30 can beinserted through a starting deck hole 270 in the starting deck 20 andattached to the blower 70 or piping system 310, such that the fill pointis hidden away from the users.

The mating hook and loop connections such as Velcro on the track 40 mustbe securely adhered or fastened to the track 40 by some permanent means,such as adhesive, staples, nails, screws, or carpet tacks.

Other embodiments of the present invention may include, but not belimited to the starting deck 20 could be built to be permanent orremovable; there could be an overlaid second wear layer along the impactzone of the guide tube 30; the guide tubes 30 could contain a slipperybumper layer; the guide tubes 30 could have sectioned parts to make theguide tubes 30 flex and conform to non-straight sections of track 40;the guide tubes could be used on rolling hills or banked curves; mWax,or a similar synthetic snow lubricant can be used to speed up ridingtubes 50 and could be used on guide tube 30 walls to make slipperier;Non-circular cross sections of the guide tube 30 are possible; theentire guide tubes 30 could be made with drop stitch fabric; track 40sections could be made from inflatable structure; the guide tubes 30could be elevated off ground with supporting structure that allows forsimilar deflection properties; could use ski hill air compressor orwater piping system to fill guide tubes 30 for convenience andquietness; could use different removable connection points; couldpermanently attach bumpers to the guide tubes 30; printed or coloredfabric for coloring or branding on any of the components; use oftranslucent fabric with lights behind it to light up for nightoperations for any of the components; could be used without artificialski mat as a track or part of the track 40 rather simply slippery fabricor other slippery hard or soft surface; participants could go down track40 with any sliding device including simply sliding down the track 40 intheir clothes; the present invention can be used in the winter with realsnow in the track 40; guide tubes 30 could be made at a smaller diameterthan the riding tubes 50;one could feasibly inflate the guide tubes 30from any point or even from the bottom of the guide tube 30; inflatableslow down devices could be easily added to the track 40, and suchdevices could be deflated, but should the operator want to bring a tuberto a stop, the device could be inflated.

When inflated, the device will come into contact with the moving tubefrom the bottom or from one or both sides. The inflated device will addto the frictional force that opposes the motion, bringing theparticipant to a stop quicker that when not using such a device.

The entire piping system 310 and guide tubes 30. The piping system 310and guide tubes 30 could be covered under an inflated or structuralshell 330. The participants would actually be traveling down the hillinside of an enclosed structure, keeping them out of the rain or thesun.

Throughout the use of the tubing track 40, the need to lubricate theartificial ski surface may be necessary. This could be accomplishedthrough the use of a rolling waxer. This roller would have a cylindricalcasting of tubeWax™ or similar lubricant that could be simply rolleddown the track, pressing the wax onto the tips of the bristles.

Additionally, speed up panels could be added into slower sections oftrack 40 or on tracks 40 that are on too shallow a grade for the ridingtubes 50 to make it down the hill. These panels could be pre-wetted witha lubricant such as tubeWax™ or silicone or any similar slippery fluid.The tubers would then pass over the panel and get a layer of lubricanton their tubes, automatically speeding them up.

The inflatable guide tubes 30 provide a very large and prominent surfacearea that could very readily be used for branding or on hilladvertising. The simplest method would be to build the guide tubes 30out of printed vinyl fabric. Another method would be to sew Velcrostrips on the guide tubes such that at any later date, a banner could beprinted and assembled with its own mating Velcro pattern such that itcould be quickly attached to the guide tubes 30 using Velcro.

This track 40 and guide tube 30 system could very easily be adapted forflat land use with some other propulsion system. Examples of suchsystems are handle tows, cable tows, rope tows, bungee systems, winchsystems, etc.

The entire present invention 10 could be used in the winter when thereis or isn't snow. The track 40 with guide tubes 30 could be used withuphill tow lines. In fact, this would be another prominent use of thedesign. These particular guide tubes 30 could possibly be much smallerin diameter and could be designed to stop a tube, should it comedetached from the tow line. The smaller riding tubes may work very wellto keep an uphill tuber on the desired uphill track 40.

Finally, the inflatable guide tube 30 could be used for any form ofsledding, tobogganing, tubing, skiing, sliding, etc. where a specifictrack 40 and path of travel is desired.

We claim:
 1. A sledding system and apparatus (10), comprising: a guidetube (30); a track (40) disposed immediately adjacent to said betweentwo guide tubes (30).
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said track(40) is disposed between two guide tubes (30).
 3. The apparatus of claim1, wherein said guide tube (30) is hollow.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein said guide tube (30) if filled with a fluid whereby the aninternal pressure inside the guide tube (30) is greater than the anatmospheric pressure.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said fluid isair.
 6. The sledding system and apparatus (10) of claim 1, wherein saidguide tube (30) is comprised of a closed surface of flexible fabric ableto be filled with air, making a rigid, but compliant structure thatfollows the a surface beneath said guide tube (30).
 7. The sleddingsystem and apparatus (10) of claim 1, wherein said guide tube (30) hasexposed to the participant a smooth fabric.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7,wherein the smooth fabric is a UV-resistant 18-oz PVC coated polyester.9. A sledding system and apparatus (10), comprising: a guide tube (30);a blower (70); two guide tubes (30) disposed leftwardly and rightwardlyof a track (40); a starting deck (20) disposed upwardly from said track(40); said blower (70) operationally disposed through at least one ofeither a starting deck hole (270) or a track hole (260) to displace airinto one or more guide tubes (30).
 10. The sledding system and apparatus(10) of claim 9, wherein said guide tube (30) is comprised of closedsurface of flexible fabric able to be filled with air, making a rigid,but compliant structure that follows surface beneath said guide tube.11. The sledding system and apparatus (10) of claim 9, wherein saidguide tube (30) has exposed to the participant an abrasion resistantfabric, such a UV-resistant 18-oz PVC-coated polyester.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 9, wherein said guide tube (30) receives fluid fromsaid blower (70) and displaces the fluid through at least one of eitherof the following, needle punctures (340) from at least one of either thesewing operation or at the loop and hook connections and said guide tube(30) maintains a substantially static volume when the blower (70) isdisplacing fluid.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said fluid is agas.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said gas is air.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 12, wherein said fluid is a liquid.
 16. The apparatusof claim 11, wherein said abrasion resistant fabric is a UV-resistant18-oz PVC-coated polyester.